


Decaf and Ice Cream

by kakera



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Gift Fic, M/M, coffee shop AU, in which the author has no idea what they are doing, some violence but not too graphic, terrible characterisation i'm sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-01
Updated: 2017-08-01
Packaged: 2018-12-09 19:54:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11675973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kakera/pseuds/kakera
Summary: Noctis has been running the family coffee shop, Crystal Coffee, single-handedly for a year.But it's a hot day, and it's quiet, and he only has one customer, who turns out to nag worse than a mother.Except he's glad the guy is there--even more so when he has some unwanted visitors, and even more than that after what unfolds.





	Decaf and Ice Cream

**Author's Note:**

  * For [aryu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/aryu/gifts).



> OK so if you're here for amazing canon characterisation, you've probably come to the wrong place.   
> I wrote this as a gift for my lovely Aryu, who is massively into FFXV and hungers for some Gladio/Noct goodness.  
> This...probably isn't _good_ as such because my knowledge of them is based on what they told me + the wiki, but if you're looking for a dumb trashy coffee shop AU, you _have_ come to the right place.
> 
> ...honestly I'm rather nervous posting this here because I really don't know the characters or the fandom, but so long as Aryu likes it, it's fine. Happy birthday my friend!

The day was hot, a blurry haze rising in the distance as the sun beat through the gaps in the blinds.

Summer had the city in its grasp, and those that ventured out into the heat either did so through necessity or lunacy, the latter falling victim to heat exhaustion whilst the former sought out shade and ice cream.

Slumped at the counter of Crystal Coffee, Noctis snored.

The heat had got worse in the afternoon. The air conditioner was straining to keep the place cool, and the opening and closing of the door during the midday rush had been like opening an oven.

No matter the heat, people always wanted their caffeine fix. They just opted for iced varieties.

But nobody had come in since two, and having forced himself to brave the heat and take out the overflowing trash, Noctis had dragged himself back into the cool of the coffee shop, where he was soon lulled to sleep by the hum of the coffee machine and the sigh of the air conditioner.

Noctis - or Noct, to his friends - liked to sleep.

Sleeping was peaceful, it let him escape from reality--from the heat, too.

Not to mention boredom.

_Ding..._

_....ding..._

_THUD._

Noctis pouted in his sleep. Those weren't peaceful sounds. That rush of warm air wasn't great, either.

"Ahem."

...a cleared throat wasn't a peaceful sound, either.

"Hey, wake up!"

...oh...a customer?

Eyes fluttering open, Noctis smiled dozily. Then he took in the sight of the tall, heavy-set guy looming over him, and promptly fell off his stool.

The guy was huge! And had a massive scar over one eye, and tattoos, all which made him look like he'd come in to rob the place.

Noctis glanced towards the baseball bat under the counter. It wouldn't be the first time someone had tried to rob the place.

"Can I get a decaf iced latte, please?" The man smiled.

"...yeah, sure..." Pushing himself up from the floor, Noctis rubbed his eyes, belatedly realising the guy was a regular customer.

Huh.

He must have been sleeping pretty deeply to not have recognised the guy. Not that he'd spent the occasional quiet afternoon watching the giant man, when he'd sat at the table in the corner, nursing his--

"You don't usually go for decaf," Noctis commented as he prepared the drink.

"I'm going cold turkey on the caffeine," the man leaned against the counter as he waited for his drink, the money for it ready in his hand. "I was told I need 'more chill'. Do I look like I need more chill?"

Noctis didn't really want to answer that. This guy - Gladiolus, wasn't it? - didn't look like a chill kind of guy. Definitely not the kind of guy to know what it meant to chill out.

"...I'll give you extra ice," he said.

He didn't expect Gladiolus to laugh at that, but he did--a warm, hearty, honest laugh, his smile brightening his face and his eyes crinkling with amusement.

"Okay, so I need to chill. I get it." Gladiolus chuckled.

"You're fine," Noctis handed him the drink and rang the transaction through the till.

Taking the first sip of his drink whilst he still stood at the counter, Gladiolus smiled. "You too."

Then he sauntered off to his usual table, leaving Noctis wondering what he'd meant.

Now that he was awake, and had a customer, Noctis knew he couldn't just sit around dozing off, much as he wanted to. It had been tempting to close up shop right after lunch, and sleep until the sun had set and the air had cooled, but--well, it was lucky he hadn't, wasn't it?

As Gladiolus nursed his iced coffee, Noctis cleaned the coffee machine and surreptitiously watched him.

Then he cleaned the counter.

And the empty tables.

And the coffee machine again.

Damn, he really wanted a nap. It was tough work, trying to look busy.

...tough work eyeing up his customer, too.

Realising that the man's coffee was nearly gone, and that the sun shining through the blinds was leaving hot strips of light across his table, Noctis made another iced latte ( _decaf_ , he reminded himself) and took it over.

"I didn't order this," Gladiolus said when Noctis set it down before him.

Noctis shrugged. "On the house. It's hot out there, and you're a regular."

Reaching over the seats, he tugged on the cord to close the blinds completely.

The space around the table immediately became swamped in blissful shade.

Noctis dropped down into the seat opposite Gladiolus, peering at him.

The scar on his face was actually kind of cool. Noctis wondered how he'd got it, imagining some kind of gang fight or bar brawl in which Gladiolus was the victor, a hero who crawled alone from the wreckage, wounded but triumphant.

Gladiolus inclined his head, arching his brow at the way Noctis stared at him. "What?"

"You come here a lot."

"The coffee is good."

Noctis knew his coffee kind of sucked. He drank enough of it himself to know that it sucked.

"Seriously?"

"It would be excellent if you tried a little harder."

Pouting a little, Noctis sat back and crossed his arms. "But you keep coming here."

"Yes." Gladiolus sipped his coffee, pursing his lips. He was _really_ missing the caffeine. "This place has potential, you know."

"What do you mean it has potential? My family has run this coffee house for generations!"

"You were sleeping when I came in." Gladiolus couldn't help but smirk. The dozy little smile Noctis had given him upon waking had been cute, even if the look of fear that had followed hadn't been so great. He didn't want the guy to _fear_ him. Quite the opposite.

"It's, hot, and you're my first customer in two hours."

"No wonder you're so bored you had to clean the coffee machine twice."

"Hmph." Noctis huffed. So this guy had been watching him, too?

Resting his elbows on the table, Noctis eyed the man.

"Your name's Gladiolus, right?"

"I prefer Gladio."

"Right. So Gladio, I'm Noct, and I've been running this place on my own for a year. You've been coming here for most that time, and you keep coming back, so what's wrong with my coffee house?"

Gladio sipped his drink, eyeing Noctis levelly. "Your beans, for a start. You should roast them on site."

"Not done that since taking over the place."

"You should. Your family didn't work hard to build this place up from scratch, just so you can slack off."

"I know that!" Noctis dropped his gaze, studying Gladio's hands instead. His arms. His tattoos. The tattoos were nice, really. They suited him. And his arms, though muscular enough to terrify anyone with any sense, seemed reassuring, somehow. Protective, rather than destructive.

Noctis sighed.

"It's not my fault that I was left to run this place alone."

"I didn't say it was anyone's fault. Just that you shouldn't slack off, or take this place for granted."

"I didn't ask to run it, you know."

"But you're still running it."

"Yeah, of course! It's the family business! All their hard work went into it, as you seem so keen on telling me. And my parents..." he trailed off, pouting.

"Your parents...?"

"They love this place."

Gladio drained the last of his first coffee and started on the fresh one, watching the smaller man. "So you're running a place you hate, because your parents love it."

"I don't hate the place! It's just a lot of work!"

"You have no customers but me."

"Yeah, well, it's quiet this afternoon! Nobody wants coffee on a hot day like this."

"You should advertise your cold drinks on a day like this."

"That means changing the chalkboard."

It also meant going outside to _get_ the chalkboard, and it was way too hot for that.

Gladio stared at him. "Get the chalk."

"What?"

"Go and get the chalk."

"You're not my boss."

"No, but you could be mine."

Noctis paused in the act of walking behind the counter, realising that he'd been going to get the chalk regardless of arguing.

"...are you here because you want a _job_?"

Gladio shrugged. "A date, actually, but a job is a good start. Somebody's got to keep you in check."

Noctis stared at him. Did he honestly just hear that right?

A date?

... _seriously?!_

Wait.

Had the air conditioner finally given up the ghost, or was Gladio _blushing_?

"Uh." Noct turned away hurriedly, feeling heat creep into his own cheeks as he crouched down behind the counter and pretended to hunt for the chalk (the chalk that was right in front of him, only his face was suddenly burning and he needed a moment to figure out how to respond to what had just been said.

Had he _really_ just been asked on a date by his intimidating-looking-and-damn-nagging-yet-actually-kind-of-cute-in-a-beefed-up-kind-of-way (favourite) customer?

Noctis groaned quietly.

It had really happened.

And Gladio was still sitting there, waiting for an answer.

Noctis rummaged harder under the counter.

"Noct."

_THUD_

"Ouch!"

Noctis sat back on his haunches, rubbing his head where he'd banged it on the countertop, and blinking up at Gladio.

"What?"

"The chalk is right there."

"...right." Noctis sighed, closing his fingers around the little packet of brightly coloured chalks, and standing up.

"So you're going to change the chalkboard?"

"I guess. If I have to."

Gladio held out his hand. "You don't _have_ to. I'll do it, if you give me a job."

Noctis hesitated, trying to imagine Gladio working behind the counter of Crystal Coffee. He briefly flirted with the idea of him at the coffee machine, shirtsleeves rolled up and an apron tied firmly at his waist. And doing the dishes, soft and fluffy soap suds all the way up to his elbows. And sweeping the floors, taking out the trash, wiping over the tables...

...oh hell, he would nag, wouldn't he?

Naps would become a total thing of the past.

"Noct? You're zoning out," Gladio said.

Noctis blinked and held the chalk a little tighter. "I'll do it," he decided. He averted his gaze, blush rising across his face, tinting his ears pink. "You can...come by at six when I close up."

"You close at seven, normally."

"I'm closing early. It's hot and I appear to have a date."

"Don't slack off, Noct."

Noctis rounded the counter. "I'm not. Nobody is going to want coffee at six o'clock on a hot day like this."

"I'll come at seven."

"...fine. Don't be late."

Gladio smiled a little. "I won't be." Het set his two empty glasses on the counter. "Thanks for the coffee, Noct. I'll see you at seven."

With that, he strolled out of the coffee house, and if the hot outside air poured in when he opened the door, Noctis didn't notice, because his cheeks were on fire all over again.

Noctis face-palmed, nearly stabbing himself in the eye with the chalk.

He couldn't believe he'd just done that. Said that. Done that. Whatever. He'd agreed to a date. With a cute - well, kind of hot. Okay, _hot_ \- guy. Literally hot guy, considering the temperature outside today. A customer, at that!

God...he hadn't sounded too pushy, had he? 'Come by at six', as if he was the guy's boss!

But he wasn't Gladio's boss, nor would he ever be. If Gladio worked for Crystal Coffee, Noctis would never get a moment's rest.

...that guy had totally nagged him about slacking off! When he was perfectly willing to close early for their date!

Noctis was half-inclined to shut the shop at six anyway, just because he could.

...well, maybe he'd close at six-thirty. It was his family's coffee house, after all.

They'd put a lot of love into it.

Gladio's face sprung to mind, gaze faintly disapproving.

"...alright, I'll close at seven!" Noctis grumbled to himself. "But I am not doing _anything else_ that guy tells me to do."

Then he grabbed the dry eraser, and went to change the chalk board.

 

As it turned out, advertising iced coffee resulted in the last two and a half hours of opening to be _insanely_ busy.

Noctis had no time for napping as he sprang back and forth behind the counter, making iced americanos, iced lattes, smoothies, fruit coolers...

The bell on the door rang in symphony with the sigh of the air conditioner and the soft hiss of the coffee machine, as more and more customers traipsed in, sweaty and heat-tired and with fistfuls of money for the coldest drink they could buy.

Customers were still trying to pour in as Noctis was closing for the night. He thought he'd shut the doors ten minutes early, to give himself time to tidy up - and tidy _himself_ up - before Gladio showed up.

As it turned out, after shuffling the last few customers out of the door and bringing in the chalkboard from outside, Noctis flipped the closed sign bang on seven p.m., and turned to face the mess that was the coffee shop.

He sighed.

Cleaning this lot up was going to take _ages_. And he had a date, damn it!

....a date that was late.

Gladio hadn't been kidding, had he?

Pouting to himself, Noctis mopped the floor, then collected the trash from the tables and began wiping them down.

A couple of minutes later, the door opened, bell jingling merrily.

Noctis straightened up and smiled. Gladio _hadn't_ been kidding.

But as he turned around, the smile faded from his lips.

A trio of tough, thug-like guys stood in the doorway, gazing around as if they owned the place. The kind of simple idiots who used their brawn to terrify and destroy, because they hadn't enough brains between them to do anything else.

Noctis scowled. These lowlifes had been in before, and would have trashed the place if he hadn't come at them screaming with a baseball bat.

But this time, these guys had bats of their own.

...and his was still under the counter. On the other side of the shop.

"Sup Noct?" leered the leader. "Figured we'd come pay you a visit."

"We're closed," Noctis replied, tightening his grip on the bottle of cleaning fluid he'd been spraying the tables with.

"We? Looks to me like there's only one of you."

"And three of us," added one of the sidekicks.

"We're just here for a pleasant evening in our favourite coffee house," said the third, smirking.

"The shop is closed, get out." Noctis' heart thudded uneasily. There was no mistaking that these guys were here to make trouble. And there were three of them, and he was alone. One of them he could take on, maybe two,, provided he had the bat to hand, but three? No way.

This wasn't going to end well.

"That _really_ isn't a good way to talk to your customers," chastised the leader. He stalked closer to Noctis, idly swinging his bat. "You know," he uttered, pushing his face towards Noctis', "I keep telling the boys to be careful, bringing sports equipment indoors. It'd be a shame if they caused some damage, wouldn't it?"

In response, Noctis squirted cleaning fluid into the thug's face, and kneed him in the groin.

The thug squawked in pain, and Noctis ran for it, the counter in his sights.

A bat connected with his lower back before he could get there.

He fell, winded, back aching.

"I'll teach you to defy me," growled the leader. "Boys, deal with him. I'm gettin' our compensation."

He stepped over Noctis and behind the counter, proceeding to pocket the money from the till.

The two sidekicks loomed, bats raised.

Noctis picked himself and limped behind the counter, barrelling into the leader and grabbing his bat from the shelf beneath the till. "I told you to get out," he said, trembling with a mixture of fear and rage. These people came into his family's coffee house, trying to _rob it_ and _beat him_?! Not. Today.

The leader laughed, pocket stuffed with notes from the till. "You're still outnumbered."

Noctis's attention was grabbed by a movement at the edge of his vision. He glanced there, and saw, in the reflection of the coffee machine, the two sidekick thugs creeping up on him, their bats raised.

Steeling himself, Noctis grit his teeth as they swung for him...

And leapt up onto the counter, kicking the leader in the face whilst swinging his bat at the nearest of the sidekicks.

He was off the counter again before any of them figured out what to do, poised in the middle of the shop floor, bat steady in his hands, ready to swing at whoever came for him first.

Smirking, the trio filed out from behind the counter.

And Noctis soon realised they weren't as stupid as he initially thought, because they all came for him at once.

Noctis fought as hard as he could, trying to deal out blows whilst dodging theirs.

But three against one was an impossible fight, and they landed more blows on him than he could on them.

Noctis edged backwards, the back door in his field of vision. If he could get there, he could get out and run. The thugs wouldn't want to continue this in the street. There would be too many witnesses.

As he leaned backwards to avoid another swing of the bat, his feet collided with something. Caught off-balance, Noctis fell backwards, a clang and the sudden smell of floor cleaner alerting him to the fact that he'd just tripped over the mop and bucket.

Why didn't he clear this shit away, seriously?

But he didn't have time to contemplate it, because, sprawled on the floor, he was suddenly at the mercy of the thugs.

Noctis gripped his bat tighter and screwed his eyes shut, waiting for their blows.

Suddenly, the thugs let out a cry, and there was a thud, and as Noctis opened his eyes again, the two sidekicks sailed past him, crashing into the tables with a groan.

Noctis blinked at them, confused. What had happened? And what was that white stuff on their faces?

"Tryin' to get in the way, huh? Too late, loser." The leader sneered, his cruel gaze and raised bat terrifying as he swung downwards.

Then his image was obscured by a black-clad, muscular shoulder.

Gladio grunted when the bat hit him, lips twisted into a grimace.

Hands either side of Noctis's head, knees at his hips, he looked down at him.

"Sorry I'm late."

"It's okay..." Noctis gulped, eyes travelling down Gladio's face, from those intense eyes to really quite nice looking lips...

"Stop zoning. You okay?"

"I--look out!" Noctis pushed himself upwards, chest colliding with Gladio's as he fended off the thug's attack. Their bats connected with a clang, and the leader laughed.

"Trying to save your boyfriend, huh? You can't even save yourself."

Noctis glared.

"Gladio. Let me up."

The leader swung for them even as Gladio pulled Noctis to his feet. The bat smacked into Gladio's shoulder this time, earning another grunt.

Then Gladio twisted around and snatched the bat from the thug's grasp, as Noctis leapt forward...

Several thuds and a broken nose later, there were three thugs on the floor, and Noctis was retrieving the shop's takings from the leader's pockets.

Despite the air conditioner, he felt hot and bothered now, and more than a little sore from the attack.

But mostly he was annoyed. How dare those assholes try to rob his family's shop! Why hadn't he locked the door when he closed up? Gladio could have knocked when he arrived! And why hadn't he emptied the bucket and put it, and the mop, away, before he cleaned the tables? Now he'd have to clean up the spill. Then again, there was blood on the floor where he'd broken the leader's nose...

Gathering the last of the cash, Noctis stood up and turned around to find Gladio mopping the floor.

"You don't have to do that."

Gladio shrugged. "It's faster if there's two of us, right?"

"...right." Noctis loaded the money into the safe, thoughtful. Crystal Coffee had ended up being really busy today, and this _was_ a bad area. Question was, had Gladio been kidding, earlier?

He returned to the main part of the shop, crossing his arms as he watched Gladio return the mop and bucket to their place, with such casual familiarity that it was a if he'd been at the shop for years.

"Were you serious about wanting a job?"

"I'm serious about everything."

"Right then. You can start officially when I open at ten tomorrow morning, but your first task is to take out the trash." He motioned to the three unconscious thugs.

Gladio crossed his arms. "You open at seven-thirty."

Noctis mirrored him. "Tomorrow, I'm opening at ten."

"I'll be here at seven-fifteen to prepare for opening."

"What--?! I just _told_ you I'm opening at ten!" Noctis took a step closer, frowning.

"If you do that you'll miss the morning crowd. You'll open at seven-thirty."

Gladio stepped closer too. They were nose to nose now, eyeing each other.

"I'm opening at _ten_ ," insisted Noctis.

"Seven-thirty."

"No way! I want to sleep in, Gladio!"

"Oh for heaven's sake, kiss already," the thug leader groaned, cupping his nose as he levered himself to his feet. He cast a bleary-eyed glance towards his sidekicks, and stumbled out of the coffee house.

Noctis and Gladio eyed each other, red-faced.

"...the trash, then," Gladio said, clearing his throat.

"Right. I'll help you," Noctis nodded, and they grabbed a guy each, dragging them out to the dumpsters in the back alley.

Noctis frowned as they walked back inside, still wondering about the white stuff squished into their faces.

"...Gladio, what _is_ that on their faces? And why the hell were you late? I could've used a hand, you know."

"Ice cream."

"Eh?"

"I was late because I stopped to buy us some ice cream, but the line was long, and when I walked in and found those guys laying into you, my hands were full. With ice cream. I had to do _something_ with it."

Struck with the mental image of the huge man crushing a pair of ice creams into the thugs faces, Noctis laughed.

"Good call. Let's stop for ice cream after this. Assuming you were serious about the date, too."

"I'm here, aren't I?"

"...right. I'll lock up, then."

Noctis began his usual locking-up routine, switching off the various machines behind the counter and fully closing all the blinds.

As he locked the front door and switched off the main lights, he heard Gladio's heavy footsteps approaching behind him.

"Good work this afternoon. You changed the sign. You got busy, right?"

Noctis smiled a little. "Yeah."

"Worth the effort, wasn't it?"

"I'm exhausted."

Turning around, Noctis took a sharp breath, finding Gladio closer than he expected.

Much closer.

With those tattoos and that scar and those intense eyes and those soft-looking lips...

"Noctis?"

"Hm?"

Gladio cupped his chin. "You're zoning again. They didn't hit your head, did they?"

"Not sure. Don't think so. I'm fine, Gladio."

"Ready to go, then?" The tone of Gladio's voice was so soft that it didn't seem to fit such a tough-looking, hulking figure.

But at the same time, it fit him very well.

"Actually," said Noctis. "I was thinking about what that thug said."

"Which part?"

Lifting his hands to Gladio's shoulders, Noctis leaned up and brought their lips together.

"That part," he said.

Gladio drew him closer, gaze seeming to become more intense in the darkness of the shop. "I didn't catch that," he murmured.

"I'll explain again," Noctis mumbled back, as Gladio's lips claimed his.

 

When they finally slipped out of the back door, the thugs had disappeared from the alley, the only sign of their having been there being a few squashed trash bags and the melted remnants of the ice cream.

"Reckon that ice cream place is still open?"

"They close at eight."

Noctis checked his watch, and sighed. "Nearly nine already."

"Tomorrow, then. You'll deserve a double-scoop after starting work so early."

"I told you, I'm not opening til ten tomorrow."

"Seven-thirty, Noctis..."

"Ten!"

"Seven-thirty, and I'll arrive at seven."

"Hey, you said seven-fifteen earlier! It doesn't take long to open up, you know."

"There's easily half an hour's activity before opening."

"All it takes is switching stuff on and putting the float in the till. What the hell else do you expect me to do?"

Gladio leaned in and kissed him.

"Well, there's that, for a start." He smiled gently. "So, I'll be there at seven, for opening at seven-thirty. Now, I believe we have a date?"

"...I'll open at eight," Noctis said quietly, as they strolled out onto the main street.

Gladio stopped walking and frowned at him. "Seven-thirty."

Hands on his hips, Noctis raised his brows. "Meet me there at seven. I'll open at eight." He smiled. "We'll _need_ that extra half an hour, Gladio."

A smile formed on Gladio's lips, and he nodded. "You drive a hard bargain, Noctis. But fine, just this once."

They continued along their way, until Gladio spoke up again.

"...I'll arrive at six-thirty. That way we'll still have that hour, and you can still open at seven-thirty."

"I said _seven_!"

Rather than argue, Gladio shut him up with a kiss.

And at six-thirty the next morning, when Noctis had let them both into Crystal Coffee, rewarded him with another, promising more once the shop was ready for opening.

Noctis got everything done in ten minutes.

Kisses were a _great_ motivation.

(But Noctis was determined that somehow, he'd still sneak in at least one nap).


End file.
